The Godfather (1972)
99%RT Audience Score: 98%
Awards & Nominations: Won 3 Oscars
31 wins & 30 nominations total
One of Hollywood’s greatest critical and commercial successes, The Godfather gets everything right; not only did the movie transcend expectations, it established new benchmarks for American cinema.
The Godfather is like the ultimate Hollywood superstar – it’s got the looks, the talent, and the box office numbers to back it up. This movie is so good, it’s like it’s playing a whole different game than the rest of American cinema. It’s like the Michael Jordan of movies, setting new records and making everyone else look like amateurs. The Godfather is the boss of all bosses, and it’s not afraid to let you know it.
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures, Alfran Productions,
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Forza d’Agrò, Messina, Sicily, Italy
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1972
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Mono
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:2h 57m
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Language(s):English, Italian, Latin
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Mar 15, 1972 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 11, 2004
Genre(s)
Crime/Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard S Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, Diane Keaton, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Francis Ford Coppola, Mario Puzo, Mario Puzo, crime, drama, box office success, budget, reviewed by Steven D Greydanus, Jason Bailey, Jake Cole, Danny Leigh, Richard Roeper, Adam Kempenaar, Erick Estrada, Matt Brunson, Stephen Silver, Michael Calleri, gangster film, American Dream, American capitalism, 50th anniversary, Paramount Pictures, R rating, mono sound mix, flat aspect ratio
Worldwide gross: $250,340,098
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,986,954,882
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 19
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 216,679,922
US/Canada gross: $136,381,073
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,082,459,586
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 12
US/Canada opening weekend: $302,393
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $2,400,100
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,183
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $6,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $47,622,132
Production budget ranking: 833
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $25,644,518
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $1,913,688,231
ROI to date (est.): 2,612%
ROI ranking: 37
Al Pacino – Michael Corleone
James Caan – Santino “Sonny” Corleone
Richard S. Castellano – Pete Clemenza
Robert Duvall – Tom Hagen
Sterling Hayden – Police Captain McCluskey
Director(s)
Francis Ford Coppola
Writer(s)
Francis Ford Coppola, Mario Puzo, Mario Puzo
Producer(s)
Albert S. Ruddy
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 3 Oscars
31 wins & 30 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (149) | Top Critics (47) | Fresh (145) | Rotten (4)
Now half a century old, Francis Ford Coppola’s revered New Hollywood masterpiece has one of the best-known final shots in film history – but it almost had a much more Catholic ending.
April 8, 2022
Steven D. Greydanus
Catholic World Report
TOP CRITIC
Skepticism of American exceptionalism is far more commonplace now than it was when The Godfather was first released. But the fragility of the American Dream was revealing itself as the illusion it had always truly been.
March 19, 2022
Jason Bailey
The Playlist
TOP CRITIC
The Godfather films have set home-video standards for decades, and that trend continues with Paramounts astonishing 4K restorations.
March 18, 2022
Jake Cole
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
As the doomy burnish of Gordon Willis’s photography captures the darkened souls of the Corleones, the effect is flat-out mesmeric.
February 24, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
Danny Leigh
Financial Times
TOP CRITIC
The Godfather is the most memorable, most influential, most quoted, most beloved, most discussed, most imitated, most revered and most entertaining American movie ever made.
February 23, 2022
Richard Roeper
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
There is simply not a character introduced or exchange of words or looks that doesn’t inform or add.
February 10, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
Adam Kempenaar
Filmspotting
TOP CRITIC
… Villains and criminals that fulfill the American dream with complete disregard for the American way. A contradiction that engenders gods. [Full review in Spanish]
June 24, 2022
Erick Estrada
Cinegarage
A cultural milestone.
March 26, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
The Godfather is as much about America, and the American experience, as any other great movie is (50th anniversary)
March 25, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
Stephen Silver
Tilt Magazine
50 years after its release on March 24, 1972, The Godfather is now and forever, one of the greats.
March 17, 2022
Michael Calleri
Niagara Gazette
An engrossing metaphor for American capitalism, watching the film on the big screen emphasises the majesty of Coppolas work.
March 11, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
James Luxford
City AM
It is a gangster film without any of the pity and hatred we might feel towards such aliens in our midst, because it recognises that in all of us there is the ignition towards power and criminality.
March 7, 2022
Tom Hutchinson
Liverpool Echo…
Plot
The Godfather “Don” Vito Corleone is the head of the Corleone mafia family in New York. He is at the event of his daughter’s wedding. Michael, Vito’s youngest son and a decorated WW II Marine is also present at the wedding. Michael seems to be uninterested in being a part of the family business. Vito is a powerful man, and is kind to all those who give him respect but is ruthless against those who do not. But when a powerful and treacherous rival wants to sell drugs and needs the Don’s influence for the same, Vito refuses to do it. What follows is a clash between Vito’s fading old values and the new ways which may cause Michael to do the thing he was most reluctant in doing and wage a mob war against all the other mafia families which could tear the Corleone family apart.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The Godfather features an all-star cast including Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, and Diane Keaton.
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